Desmond Morris, British b.1928 - The Ritual, 1949; oil on board, signed with initials and dated lower left '鈮M 49楼, signed, dated and titled on the reverse 'DM Dec 49 The Ritual楼, 45.4 x 60.3 cm (unframed) (ARR) Provenance: with The London Gallery, London; Mick Mulligan, Chichester, purchased from the above in 1950; private collection Exhibited: London Gallery, London, Desmond Morris, 1950, no. 17, as 'The Ritual楼 (with Joan Miro and Cyril Hammersma) Note: the work is also known as 'The Red Ritual' and was begun in 1946. In 2000 Morris commented that this work was among his 'most successful ever painted楼. Mick Mulligan was a jazz musician and friend and musical partner of George Melly, who also worked at the London Gallery. The London Gallery had been founded in the 1930s by Lady Peter Norton, focusing on avant-garde European art, and was later sold to Roland Penrose, and was run by the Belgian Surrealist E. L. T. Mesens. With thanks to Silvano Levy and the artist for their assistance in the cataloguing of this work. Please refer to department for condition report